By Brad Wright
Why Go? Active adventures, craft beer, food scene, live music.
This pristine region on the eastern slopes of the Cascade Range lures adventurous souls like a siren song. It’s where glacier-fed wilderness meets lava-strewn plains and the high-desert plateau, so you can hike to emerald-forest waterfalls (Sahalie and Koosah Falls Loop) one day and scale craggy cliffs (Misery Ridge Trail) the next.
“Mountains, lakes, rivers, valleys, trails—we have them all,” says Deschutes Brewery owner Gary Fish, who united this region’s outdoorsy lifestyle with a craft beer revolution when he launched his first brewpub in Bend in 1988.
Bend remains the beating heart of Central Oregon’s outdoor playground. In the summer, tubers float down the Deschutes River, surfers catch waves at Bend Whitewater Park, and music fans groove to big-name acts at the recently renovated Hayden Homes Amphitheater.
But Bend’s Central Oregon neighbors are increasingly popping up on savvy travelers’ radars. New taprooms and restaurants give a modern sheen to the Western-themed artist enclave of Sisters, the gateway to the Mount Washington and Three Sisters wilderness areas.
New nonstop flights from Burbank and Palm Springs (plus flights from LAX and San Diego) connect to the hub’s airport in the fast-growing city of Redmond, near Smith Rock State Park, a rock-climbing mecca.
The SCP Redmond Hotel (rates start at $149), in a revitalized 1927 building, draws guests to its rooftop bar and Terra Kitchen, its plant-forward fine-dining restaurant. And while Bend is widely recognized as one of the most brewery-dense cities in the country, 4 of the 30 breweries on the Bend Ale Trail are in downtown Redmond—within walking distance of the SCP Redmond Hotel. So you can toast to your outdoor exploits and stroll back to your room.